Beat the Heat with Cold Peanut Soba Noodles with Cucumber and Scallions

This is one of my favorite dishes. It is really easy to make and it is great to entertain with too. In many restaurants they serve it cold as an appetizer. For this recipe I used soba noodles, which is made with buckwheat flour.  The dish is easy to make, using a sauce peanut butter, tamari, rice vinegar and cayenne pepper.  You mix it all together with some cold cucumbers, scallions and fresh cilantro and you a refreshing meal!

Health Stuff

Buckwheat is an extremely healthy food and if you are not using it in your diet you should be! It is gluten-free and packed with essential nutrients like manganese, magnesium and copper. The nutrients in buckwheat help with blood sugar control and studies have found that people who consume soba noodles have a lowered risk of developing cholesterol problems.  The noodles also cook quicker than egg noodles or pasta.

You will need:

• Soba noodles (you can find these in the asian section of any grocery store. The brand I used is called Wel Pac)
• Crunchy unsalted peanut butter. (Try to use good peanut butter, not Jif)
• Rice Vinegar (If you don’t have this, try lemon juice)
• Cayenne Pepper
• Half an English cucumber, seeded, peeled and sliced into small pieces
• Fresh Cilantro, chopped
• Scallions, chopped

To Prepare:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of  peanut butter, with 2-3 even tablespoons of rice vinegar and 1 tablespoon of Tamari, or soy sauce.

2. Whisk this sauce until  it is smooth and creamy. Add some warm water to loosen up the peanut butter. Taste the sauce! Add more of each ingredient to your taste. Tis is very important because each person has different tastes, some like it more salty, so add more soy sauce, some like it more tangy, so add more vinegar. But the important thing is to make sure the sauce is smooth enough to coat the noodles. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper at the end.

3. Make sure the veg are prepped. Chop a bunch of scallions, cut up some cilantro (I don’t like to finely chop this for this recipe, let the leaves show nicely throughout), and peel, seed and slice an english cucumber.

4. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in the soba noodles. The packet comes with 3 bunches of soba noodles. I used one for 2 servings. Cook for about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer the noodles to the mixing bowl to mix together with the sauce.

5. When the noodles have cooled enough, add in the cold ingredients and mix well.

6. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator and serve!

Servings: This recipe makes enough for 2 as I made this for me and my roommate. Increase the quantities for larger groups.